“Hike up to the Moorish castle ruins” ~ Sendero Castillo de Montemayor, Benahavís in Spain 🇪🇸

Hi all 👋🏻

Today I want to share with you all, this HIKE up the mountain from last Sunday, it is more a hike than a casual walk, as it was quite steep at times… last bit we needed our hands and feet to get up, that steep it was 😎

With this post I’m joining in at the Wednesday Walk challenge and Make me Smile challenge. That are hosted by @tattoodjay and @elizacheng every week on Wednesday.
‼️Have a look: Here in the Wednesday Walk Community if you want to join in!‼️

Or at @tattoodjay ’s Post from today here!

I will guide you through my photos and hike as I follow the time stamps of them. So you can come along with me and look at all the details and surroundings I show you 😎 as if you would be right there with me. Are you up for this today?

Photos are taken with my iPhone on 8 May 2022.
We started exactly at 12:00h Sunday, after parking our car at the start of the hike.

Location of the ruins from this castle on Google Maps, see the yellow star ⭐️ :

The start was 1.7 km before that.
If you look closely at the map, (the green flags) you can see it is close to the Sendero de las Libélulas/ The dragonfly path - and the moody walk sendero acequia del Guadalmina, I posted a while back: This Post! and This Post!
We like to explore this area… so we went back 😁

What new is to my post today is the following:

As we were curious how steep the last climb of 300 meters to the top would be, I switched on a running/ walking app. (Used to be runtastic but is called running now)
You see our exact route… the green dot where I started the app. But we actually started the hike where the end is= the red dot.

So you see only from the last 300 meters going up and back and than all the way to our starting point pictured. 😎
The entire hike would have been 3.4 km -ish.

The entire way going was uphill to the castle, this took of course a longer time then going downhill. Hehehe 🤓
Total time of this hike was about 2 hours 30 minutes.

Last 300 meters had an elevation of 100 meters, we did 40 minutes there and back. It was scary at times as it had a steep drop right next to you, with nothing to hold on to. (I don’t like heights, but I managed 🤩 and was proud of myself.)
I do not have photos of that bit, as we needed our hands free… to climb. I let you know in the photos about where it was.

Maybe I start using this app more on our new walks and hikes. What do you think? Should I?

Let’s start our Hike, here we go…

We parked our car at the end of the road, there is a hotel located. Our view from the road is high above it and we can look into it’s gardens.

Here you see the hotel itself and will be a guide to see where we came from in the photos.

Just above it the trail starts. It says it is 1.7 km to the Castillo de Montemayor ~ the ruins of the Montemayor Castle.

Our view in front next to the sign.

As you can see we are going up… this is on an elevation of about 300 meters, the castle is at 580 meters high.

Our views around us.

Along the way I find today loads of flowers and plants… beautiful to see, even these prickly ones 😁

A butterfly, I could just capture… before it flew away.

Our path we follow. Still going up.

Next to the path more spring flowers 🌸

Such a pretty sight it is.

Yep, we are still on the right course 😎☀️

I see some shade… let’s go there for a moment, as it is rather warm out in the sun. It’s 22 degrees Celsius this day. Did you bring a cap, water and sunscreen 🧴?

A few more flowers.

As we go further we see a few cork trees next to the path, they have been harvested already. As you clearly can see.

View looking back at where we came from.

A little further a sign again with a stunning backdrop.

At the end here of this path we see a gate and a sign saying we need to go left uphill further. There is a house at the end. We will see later from above.

Let’s go where the sign says… around the corner we go… 😊

We see in front of us an electricity tower, it’s the end of the line.

We have these views now looking towards the Mediterranean Sea 🌊

More flowers I see in this area, they were so pretty… just had to share some more 🌸🌸🌸

As you can see… loads of them 🌼🌸🌼🌸

And some lavender too 😎

We are passing this gate now, it does say it is private… but I’m not sure about that. As there is only a road, nothing else. (I looked at Google maps)

View in the direction we came from, in the middle of the photo the last white building is where the hotel is. So we did hiked a long way already.

Let’s go further… we are over half way now 😁

What do I see in the distance… the top. The Castle ruins!

Let’s zoom in a bit. As you look at that steep top, we will go up along the right side of it later…

Let's rest for a moment in the shade of this tree… catch our breath for what is to follow. Let’s drink some water.

A little bit further we see this sign with a lookout point. And the mountain ranges we see in front of us.

It states:
”From the landscape point of view, you are standing at one of the most interesting lookouts on the Costa del Sol. Observe the narrow strip of coast between the sea and the Sierra Blanca. The key to our exceptional climate is the mountains rising to more than one thousand metres in height, that protect this coastal plain and shelter us from the cold northerly winds, whilst holding back the sea breezes. Note how mountainous the area is, making our rivers short raging torrents, with the force to gouge out ravines and canyons like the Angosturas de Guadalmina. A simple glance at the mountains reveals two different shades: the limestone rocks of the Sierra Blanca and the Sierra Camucha ranges, and the red coloured mountains like the Sierra Plamitera and the Sierra Real, consisting of peridotite, a rock of igneous origin found nowhere else in the world in such abundance as it is here in Málaga, and a niche for numerous endemic plant species.”

Next to it we see this cork tree and a sign about the Castle. You see the castle through the tree branches on the top.

The sign states:
”Siglos Vlll al XV ~ 8th to 15th centuries.
Welcome to the Castle of Montemayor, one of the most impregnable fortresses of Al-Andalus. It had up to three walled enclosures separated by quite large distances for defensive purposes. The walls had small squared towers, a circular tower and several wells. It was mainly used for defence and surveillance of the farmhouses of the region, which were close to the coast and therefore in constant danger because of its proximity to the Straits of Gibraltar. From here, there could be direct visual communication with other coastal watchtowers such as the one of Castillejo de los Negros. Reports of the time refer to here as a site with high quality rubies. These were associated with honour, wisdom and prosperity of the castle inhabitants. The castle was taken by Christians in 1485.”

After a little rest we will continue and start our challenge of today. We can do this 💪🏻😁

Just 300 meters there and back to the top.

We see the house, that had the gate and sign to turn left… remember? This is seen from above.

Our views… right of the path.

It is getting steeper… In the beginning our path is wide.

I see the castle above us… half way now.

The path is getting smaller… and the drop higher.

After this point we need our hands free to climb further so I have no photos of it. But you can see what I mean. Believe me it was steep 😎 especially if you don’t like heights hahaha 🤣

Over rocks now…

We reached an area below the castle now. We rest for a bit.

The castle ruins!
Let’s have a look around and go after higher up.

At the end we see… in the distance even the rock of Gibraltar. Those familiar with it can find it 😉

The castle above us.

View next to us. A nice field with grasses.

Let’s climb up the last bit, over some rocks.

We see…

This pole at the highest point… surrounded by the castle ruins.

What a views from up here!

You see a large stretch of the coast now.

Stunning isn’t it? Well done you… you came all the way with me 🤩 yeah, we made it.

You know what… now it will go a bit faster as it is only downhill from here. You must be happy about that 😊

Some details around us on the part below the castle ruins.

Let’s go down the steep bit again.

See it is much easier 😁

A little breeze is picking up… that’s nice. We are enjoying that as we go down.

Our views.

We see in the distance the hotel again.

Do you see how fast it goes now… 😊

The paths we go over, it’s straight on here.

Don’t forget to look around and take nature in… it is all surrounded you.

Some details of a tree we pass.

Corners in the road down.

Rockfaces we didn’t see going up, with the Med. in the distance.

Next to us on the rock face the sign of this trail…

And do you see what I see… the hotel… and that means our car 🚗

Well done you! You stayed all the way to the end with me on this challenging steep hike. 🥳🥳😁 Thank you, you were great company!

Until next time 😎

Hope you enjoyed my photos of this hike and going along with me to the castle ruins.
Thank you for looking and reading 😊 🙏🏻 Really much appreciated!

Any questions or comments, let me know. Always happy to help.

Have a great Wednesday all 😎
Grtz Jackie

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!pinmapple 36.513464 lat -5.059470 long “Hike up to the Moorish castle ruins” ~ Sendero Castillo de Montemayor, Benahavís in Spain 🇪🇸 d3scr